National Award Nomination for Inspirational Rachel

An inspirational clinical lead has been shortlisted for a national award in recognition of her tireless work for improved sexual health and expression within mental health services.

Rachel Luby has been nominated for a Mental Health Nursing Award as part of RCNi Nursing Awards 2019.

She has led a Quality Improvement (QI) project at the Trust’s John Howard Centre in Hackney.

It started by identifying reluctance to discuss anything related to sexuality and worked to transform patient experience by making staff and patients more confident in talking about the subject.

The project is classified as having 'Big I' involvement, meaning the patient who inspired it is an equal stakeholder in the project team.

Rachel's personal mental health journey encouraged her to speak out about patients who struggle with intimacy whilst in hospital.

The London South Bank University graduate said she was overwhelmed at being nominated.

“I feel honoured that the work has been recognised and hope that this nomination will see the work shared, not only across the unit, but the trust and beyond,” she added.

Further plans include a weekly group session on love, sex and intimacy, and a sexual expression care plan for each patient.

The RCNi awards ceremony will take place in London at the Park Plaza hotel in Westminster on 3 July.

ELFT uses Quality Improvement (QI) to tackle complex issues by following structured steps which include understanding the problem, developing a strategy and ideas for change, testing and analysing data.Click here to learn more about the ELFT QI method.